ID thieves these days want your number, not your name

Sunday

Aug 3, 2014 at 12:01 AMAug 3, 2014 at 1:55 PM

Most American consumers have come to embrace - or at least tolerate - synthetics. Every day, they shell out millions of dollars for fabrics, foods and household goods that aren't the handiwork of Mother Nature.

Most American consumers have come to embrace — or at least tolerate — synthetics.

Every day, they shell out millions of dollars for fabrics, foods and household goods that aren’t the handiwork of Mother Nature.

One relative newcomer to the marketplace of man-made alternatives, however, never will gain acceptance.

“Synthetic identity theft may sound like the next ‘whodunnit’ espionage novel, but it’s not,” the credit-reporting giant Experian says in an online primer. “It’s a new spin on an old crime."

The Federal Trade Commission has sounded a similar warning, noting, “Over the last few years, the face of identity theft has changed.”

For decades, the most-prevalent form of identity theft was “true name” theft. Simply put, in a true-name theft, an innocent person’s identifying information is stolen and used without modification; a crook effectively poses as the victim.

These days, thanks in part to the effectiveness of credit monitoring, true-name fraud has taken a back seat to synthetic identity theft.

“Synthetic identity theft occurs when thieves create new identities either by combining real and fake identifying information to establish new accounts with fictional identities, or (by creating) a brand new identity from totally fake information,” Experian said.

A thief, for example, might acquire someone’s Social Security number and then combine it with a different name, address and phone number.

“They can then open new accounts and acquire credit cards, cellphones and other goods and services not in your name but because of your Social Security number,” the FTC said.

The federal watchdog cites one example in which an Arizona man’s Social Security number had been used to manufacture 30 distinct identities. In one instance, a scammer obtained $9,000 in credit under the name “Gaylord Focker,” a character in the movie Meet the Parents.

The FTC said synthetic identity theft is the fastest-growing form of identity fraud. Of the more than 16 million identity crimes that will take place in the United States this year, at least 80 percent will involve synthetic identity theft, according to a study by ID Analytics.

One reason for the crime’s growing popularity among crooks is its ability to elude detection.

With more-traditional true-name crimes, when banks and credit-card issuers detect suspicious activity, they’ll notify the affected customers and, if necessary, freeze any accounts that have been compromised.

In contrast, with synthetic identity theft, “there’s no real person who’s going to actually catch the fraud and say, ‘Hey, this is my identity; stop using it,’??” said Kathryn Searles, an inspector with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Some breaches, therefore, can go undetected for years.

“All the ‘bits and pieces’ of personal information confuse the system,” Experian said. “The computer programs (used by lenders) are designed to try and ‘match’ a person’s information using their name, address, Social Security number and so forth.

“If the computer doesn’t get a true ‘match,’ it moves on.”

Consumers can take steps to fight synthetic identity theft. Experian offers these tips:

• Scrutinize your annual Social Security statement. Make sure that your reported income figure for the year isn’t inflated.

• Be on the lookout for mail sent to your home address with someone else’s name on it.

• If you’re denied credit, make sure the lender based its decision on your identity and your personal credit information — and not someone else’s.

• Consider investing in an identity-theft-protection product that will monitor your personal credit information, scour the Internet for unauthorized use of your Social Security number and alert you if any changes are detected.

Experian’s version is called ProtectMyID. Similar products on the market include LifeLock, IdentityForce, Identity Guard and TrustedID.